Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Bay View, MI

Bay View is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Bear Creek Township, Emmet County, standing on the shore of Little Traverse Bay just east of Petoskey along U.S. Highway 31.

Bay View was founded in 1875 by Michigan Methodists as a camp meeting ground dedicated to intellectual and scientific culture and the promotion of religion and morality, on land donated by the Grand Rapids & Indiana Railroad.

The first assembly season was held under tents in the summer of 1876; the next year the grounds were platted and the first 20 cottages were built, growing to about 400 cottages by 1900.

Bay View developed into an independent Chautauqua from 1885 to 1915, with an eight-week summer assembly, a summer university, lectures, and concerts that drew tens of thousands of visitors.

Today the Bay View Association grounds hold more than 440 Victorian cottages — each with its own whimsical name — and more than 30 community buildings on a terraced, wooded tract above the bay.

Bay View was designated a National Historic Landmark District on December 23, 1987, as one of the finest remaining examples of two uniquely American community forms, the Methodist camp meeting and the independent Chautauqua.

Bay View is a strictly seasonal community: association bylaws limit cottage occupancy to the warm months, roughly May through October, and the grounds largely shut down each winter.

Behind the cottages lies Bay View Woods, a 137-acre natural area preserved within the community.

The Bay View CDP counted 183 residents at the 2020 census, up from 133 in 2010, spread across just 0.38 square miles — though its summer population swells far beyond its year-round census count.

Bay View shares the 49770 ZIP code with neighboring Petoskey, the Emmet County seat.